120 MPs push for financial education in schools

Over 120 MPs have formed an all party parliamentary group to push for compulsory financial education in schools.

The APPG on financial education for young people will be launched officially this afternoon. Its chair, Conservative MP for North Swindon Justin Tomlinson (pictured), says young people need to understand the “complex financial world” they will be entering.

He says: “Young people are entering an increasingly complex financial world of store cards, mobile phone tariffs, credit agreements and financial marketing. Through my MP casework, I have seen first-hand the implications for those who have made poor decisions, too often through a lack of understanding.”

The group is one of the largest APPGs ever formed and is backed by Moneysavingexpert.com creator Martin Lewis and the Personal Finance Education Group, which says it is needed because financial education in schools has been “patchy”.

Pfeg chief executive Wendy van den Hende says: “It needs to be a priority for every school to provide personal finance education for all its pupils. If we want the next generation to be financially capable we need financial education at every stage of school life.”

The group has also received support from banks and building societies as well consumer groups Which? and Citizens Advice.

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Readers' comments (1)

FRP Advisory | 11 February 2011 5:07 pm

Every school leaver should be equipped with the basic financial skills to help them avoid ending up being subject to financial scams, loan sharks or becoming another personal insolvency statistic. The school curriculum is already overcrowded, but it is important to build on young people's knowledge of money and how to manage it.

Children interact with money from an early age. They start shopping online from an average age of 10, but more than half of England's teenagers have been - or currently are - in debt by the time they reach 17, according to the Personal Finance Education Group. Extending Personal, Social and Health Education (PHSE) in schools to include more teaching about financial capability, and introducing an element of compulsion to this teaching, will encourage greater responsibility towards credit and debt with the next generation of consumers.

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